Now Playing at Target Field: Self-Serve Beer Stations

In just over a week, the Minnesota Twins will host the 2014 All-Star Game. There, thirsty fans will find a new mechanized way to wet their whistle: The first self-serve beer machine in all of Major League Baseball made its debut this past Sunday at Target Field, and another machine will be added in time for the Summer Classic.

Patrons purchase vending cards with either $10 or $20 on them—$50 cards will be available for the All-Star Game—from concession stands (where ID will be checked). The cards allow fans to fill a 20 ounce cup as much or as little as they like and pay per ounce for the four available beers: Bud, Bud Light (38 cents per ounce), Shock Top Lemon Shandy, and Goose Island 312 Urban Pale Ale (40 cents per ounce).

The cards are good for 48 ounces of beer for every 15 minute period, but just like traditional ballpark booze-vendors, the machines shut down in the seventh inning.

Seattle Mariners fans have more than warmed up to the newest, offbeat addition to the Safeco Field concessions menu: toasted grasshoppers covered in chili-lime salt.

The crunchy snack, which sells for $4 and comes packed in a small container, has only been available for less than a season but has already sold 300,000-plus orders to date. That's about 1000 pounds of grasshoppers.

Frequenters of Seattle's popular Mexican restaurant Poquitos will know that this delicacy—which first started as a novelty item on its menu—has actually been available to the public for six years. But it wasn't until local chef Ethan Stowell was hired to give the Safeco Field menu a hip retooling that the salty bugs found new, fervent popularity at the ballpark. (Also on the Safeco menu: fried oysters drizzled in hot sauce.)

Great Big Story met up with Manny Arce, the executive chef of Poquitos and visionary behind this culinary home run, to discuss the popularity of these crunchy critters. You can watch the video interview below:

We don’t quite know who invented the high five—but we can pinpoint the moment it became inextricably linked with sports, which the short documentary The High Five explores below.

On October 2, 1977, Los Angeles Dodgers leftfielder Dusty Baker scored his 30th home run, making the team the first in history to have four players—Baker, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, and Reggie Smith—with at least 30 homers under each of their belts. Fellow outfielder Glenn Burke was so overwhelmed with joy and pride, he raised his arm and slapped his flat palm against the victorious athlete’s own palm. The moment transformed Baker and Burke into legends.

Sadly, the latter player faced hard times ahead: Burke was gay, and it’s believed that his sexuality prompted team officials to trade him to the Oakland A's the following year. In Oakland, Burke clashed with team manager Billy Martin, then retired early from baseball. Today, Burke is remembered for his charisma and talent—and for transforming a simple gesture into a universal symbol. “To think his energy and personality was the origin of that, that’s a pretty good legacy,” sportswriter Lyle Spencer says in the film.